A/N: Yeah I've been having a lot of trouble trying to figure out what type of ending I was going to put on this story, and I think I've come to a decision. ((By that I mean I hope it is the right one heh)) Well I will tell you there may be a few more chapters after this one, this chapter is definitely not the end. So read on and hopefully I made the right choice. And once again thank you for setting a record 9 reviews for a chapter and I even got up to my 50th review! Well, the only other news is I have an 2 new inu oneshots up that I thought was kinda cute slash funny and one that's more sad so read them if you're bored... now enough rambling onto the story!

ok a little more rambling AN Accepted XD ((must I keep putting that?))

DISCLAIMER: I wish I owned Inu-Yasha:looks for a star: Wait, it's day time...awwww v.v

Inu-Yasha, Stay With Me!

Chapter 10

With a speed that she herself didn't know was possible, Kagome flung herself through the dark woods. Gracefully maneuvering around trees and bushes and a few not so conveniently placed rocks, she made her way little by little to the tree. After another 20 minutes or so of scrambling she realized just how far she had run to find him.

'I'm almost there..' She said reassuring herself. 'I just need to run a little while longer.' She didn't realize how exhausted she was becoming, the rain blocking out her panting and sometimes huge gasps for air. Finally, running through another thick bush of thorns she came across the tree, relieved to see the hanyou sitting beside its overgrown roots. She slowed her pace and her breath caught up to her as she approached him carefully as if he would run away if she made too much noise. Kagome crouched next to him and waited for him to notice.

"Kagome?" Inu-Yasha picked his head up weakly, his voice almost completely inaudible over the sound of the rain.

"Inu-Yasha, what were you thinking running out like that!? Do you know how close you could have come to dying!? You're such an idiot sometimes!!" She looked at his unchanging expression. "What's wrong?" She asked with a regrettable tone.

"I saw Kikyo again," he chuckled a bit. "And she told me.. that I'm nothing but a fool... A gullible fool who is going to die for sure, and share the same fate that she had." Kagome sat gripping her torn and bleeding leg.

"No," shaking her head she continued. "No, you aren't going to die, I-I won't let it happen!" She reached for her arrow caddy and pulled out the arrow that Kikyo had given to her that was slightly different from the other ones the caddy held.

"Kagome, I'm sorry.." He said looking away from her. "I shouldn't have believed anything that she said about you."

"No, don't apologize!" She screamed tightening the grip on her leg. "You can apologize all you want later." She took her bow off her shoulder and held the arrow to it.

She tried to keep a steady grip on the wet bow, the wind almost whipping it out of her clenched fists. The storm was getting worse by the minute, the wind now strong enough to blow several trees down in the way of the paths leading back to the village.

"Inu-Yasha, I swear I'm going to make you better," She said standing up and cringing at the feeling of the blood running down her neck from the still open wound on her chin. "Just for right now, trust me and stand up."

"Kagome..." Inu-Yasha swallowed hard and waited as another jolt of pain rang through his already exhausted body. His brows came down hard on his eyes as he forced himself to get up. He grasped the tree, panting, trying to get past the now almost unbearable pain that was gathered in his chest and looked to Kagome's distressed face. He tried his best to hide his pain, and put his weight onto his heals, supporting his back upright with the tree's trunk. He looked slightly upwards seeing the light patch of bark that had been worn away by his own body only a short time before. Another tree falling down on its side a few feet back from where Kagome was standing scared both of them back to their own desperate scene that was unfolding in front of them. Kagome bit her lip and renocked her arrow and began to pull back on the string slightly.

"Are you ready, Inu-Yasha?" She asked her hand starting to shake the bow.

"Kagome, before you do that, let me say something." Inu-Yasha said closing his eyes as if he were digging in the corners of his mind to find a speech he had prepared so long before. "Do you remember what I said..about me still have a lot to tell you?"

"Yes.." She said shaking more as another tree fell behind her. "Inu-Yasha we gotta hurry!" She said drawing back on her bow more.

"Well, there is a lot I have to say. I trust you more than I have ever trusted any person, right now I trust you completely with my life. And about Kikyo, I have to tell you a lot about her." He saw Kagome's eyes widen as she continued to pull more on her bow. "Kagome, after I met you I wasn't sure what I wanted anymore, a life that I was promised when I met Kikyo or a life that I could start over again with you. I didn't want to betray Kikyo again, after all she did follow me into death. But I also wanted to make sure that what happened to me and Kikyo would never happen to you. I don't ever want you to be hurt like that." He cringed once again, one of his hands grabbing his haori in a balled fist once again where he was sealed.

"Inu-Yasha-" Thunder caught her off guard as she jumped slightly.

"And I realized that what I shared was Kikyo was nothing more than a friendship. A friendship that I wanted so much.. My own mind must have mistaken it for something more, and I was stupid." Inu-Yasha looked to the girl who held the bow up and was pointing it at him as a silence filled the clearing. The rain showered down on them and the thunder crashed as the two etched each other's pained faces into their memories. Kagome once again drew back on her bow praying that this arrow had not been tainted by Kikyo as another foul trick to put him against her. "I was stupid to ever mistake a friendship like that one to the feeling I have for..." He paused unable to get the words he wanted out. She closed her eyes and waited and prayed for Inu-Yasha to finish.

'Inu-Yasha.. Please.. Just... Just say it!!' She then felt the arrow slip from her fingers as the string to her bow kicked back and forth a few times. Opening her eyes she saw the long line engulfed in her pink and white warm light.

Inu-Yasha stood there straight on as he looked straight at Kagome and smiled at her before being hit directly where Kikyo had shot him with her arrow. Kagome dropped the bow to the ground as everything slowed down. The bow hitting the ground, the rain... Her own breathing was stuck in slow motion as her knees locked making her unable to move as she watched Inu-Yasha's limp body slip down to the roots below him. His hair covered his eyes and part of his face which was now as pale as the sloppy wet curtain that covered it. She finally came to terms at what had happened and ran to his side almost immediately.

"Inu-Yasha!? Inu-Yasha!? Are you ok!? Did it work!?" She asked frantically as she pulled the wet hair from his face. His face stayed calm and his eyes unopened as Kagome became more frantic. "Inu-Yasha-?" She pulled his torso slightly upwards to move him into her lap. She sat in a cross legged position and propped his head up, watching as the rain fell on his face, without having any affect on his sleeping.

"Inu-Yasha, why aren't you waking up?" She gripped at him frantically in her arms shaking him and tapping his shoulder. Any possible way to get him up she tried unfortunately for her, nothing working.

"Please Inu-Yasha don't be dead, please!" She sobbed. She tried to check for his pulse like they had taught her in health class as a young child but the rain was making it impossible to find the exact spot. She struggled to keep him in her arms, his weight and her exhaustion making it nearly impossible to accomplish the small task. The blood that dripped from her chin pooled on his shoulder as she clutched him closer to her chest. As she stared at the pale young man who used to be full of life and snappy comebacks, she thought about how Kikyo was probably watching the whole scene from somewhere deep in the forest and her anger surged. "Kikyo, I know you're standing there!" She screamed seemingly at no one. "Are you happy now!? This is what you've done to him, I really hope it was worth it! Now that you've accomplished it just go! Go back to hell... you stupid ... stupid witch.." Not feeling any better, Kagome broke into more sobs and cried into Inu-Yasha's shoulder.

"I never even got to tell him.." She sobbed. "He's never going to know how much I loved him..." She whispered to herself as she shook with more grief and cold. She pulled back Inu-Yasha's head to see his face bringing up a gentle hand to feel his features. She then lifted his head the rest of the way up and cupped it in her hands, her lowering her lips to his. She kissed him lightly then brought him back away from her. "Please..." She continued to whisper as if he were actually paying attention.

"Inu-Yasha, stay with me..."

XxXxXxX

A/N: Heh ... don't kill me!!!! If I get enough reviews I pray that aren't angry heh.. I'll update soon! Let me know what you thought. And trust me THERE ARE MORE CHAPTERS. There's no way I'd leave it off here haha. Wellp that's all here and please review and I'll work on the next chapter as soon as I can! Thanks again for bearing with the wait!

'Till Next Time!

A Friend in Words,

--KB